


Fieldwork Is Overrated

by leoba



Series: Scary Stories [8]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, At the Mountains of Madness, F/M, Lovecraftian, Naga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-06 12:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16387709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leoba/pseuds/leoba
Summary: Ben takes Rey searching for Force cult lore in the Alps, and they get more than they bargained for.





	Fieldwork Is Overrated

**Author's Note:**

> A Naga AU for Reylo Monster Week, Day Six. Another blatant ripoff, this one of H. P. Lovecraft’s _[At the Mountains of Madness](http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/mm.aspx)_. It is the most self-indulgent pure Lovecraftian dreck I have ever written or shall ever write again. Thus, I love it and I hope you enjoy it too.
> 
> Thanks to @lovethemfiercely, who is my beta for all my Reylo Monster Week stories.

“I don’t like these caves, Ben. They make me uncomfortable.”

“Push through it, Rey. We’re working towards a higher purpose. It will be worth it.”

“I’m glad they… whoever made these used pictograms instead of a regular writing system, it makes them easier to understand but I still don’t like them. These inscriptions in particular don’t look right.”

“None of them look _right_ , Rey.”

“It’s making my brain hurt, just a little bit. Remind me what we’re doing here, again?”

“My uncle’s notebooks contain references to a temple of Force cultists in what we now call the Alps. So we came here, and we found the temple, and now we’re working our way through it, making a map of its layout and cataloging the inscriptions.”

“Why are we doing this?”

“Because we want to know.”

“What do we want to know, Ben?”

“Everything, Rey. We want to know everything.”

* * *

 

“Ben, what’s this supposed to be?”

“What, that thing?”

“Yeah, there, in the corner. There are these… people, I guess, but then there’s that thing in the corner. It looks a little like a person, but it’s … long. Isn’t it?”

“Hm, I’m not sure. Yeah, it looks weird. It looks almost like a snake.”

“It does. But it’s really big, and the head is weird.”

“The head is definitely weird, Rey. Call it a big snake with a human head, I guess. Naga, they're called, at least they are in Southeast Asia. I didn't realize the earliest Force cultists had a Naga tradition.”

“Ben?”

“Yes, Rey?”

“I’m not really happy to be here, but I’m glad I’m with you.”

“I’m glad I’m with you, too, sweetheart.”

* * *

“Look Ben, more of those snake things.”

“Hmm, lots of them, too. What are they doing?”

“It’s difficult to tell. I think this inscription is a continuation of that one, over there. See, it’s the same number and configuration of people. And some from earlier, here in the notebook… no, back another page. That one. That group keeps appearing. They seem to be moving down the wall as the inscriptions progress, as though they’re going deeper underground.”

“Hey Rey, this one, down near the floor here, this is them too. But they’ve reconfigured. That smaller one is in front now, closest to those snake things.”

“It looks like … I think that’s a sacrifice. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like it either, sweetheart.”

* * *

 

“What’s this?”

“Ew, Ben, don’t touch it. It looks gross.”

“It’s… dry. It’s fine, Rey.”

“Oh, it makes an interesting noise. It crackles.”

“It’s very light. It weighs nothing. Almost nothing.”

“Put the light behind it. … Oh, I don’t like that at all. It hurts my eyes. What color is it?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s very long. How long do you think it is?”

“It’s… fuck, it’s long. Eighteen feet? Twenty?”

“I don’t like it, Ben. Can we leave it?”

“We can’t, we really can’t. Hand me one of the sample bags from your pack. Don’t forget to mark where we found it on the map.”

* * *

 

“Ben, I’m not feeling well. My head hurts.”

“I know, sweetheart, but we’re almost done. I’m certain we’re almost done.”

“Yes, but… we still have to climb back out, once we’re done.”

“...”

“Had you not considered that?”

“I suppose I hadn’t.”

* * *

 

“Rey, wake up. Wake up, Rey. I need you to wake up. Please! I’m hearing noises. We’re not alone, here, and I think we need to leave. I don’t know what could be here, it’s so dark, and so cold. Please wake up. It’s cold and dark, and I’m afraid.”

* * *

 

“I’m so sorry I brought you here, I’m so sorry. I hope you’ll be able to forgive me. I hope you’ll have a chance to forgive me. I’ve had to leave everything behind, the notebooks and the catalog and the samples and everything. You’re all I can carry, and you’re all I care about. I saw them, Rey, at the bottom of the shaft. And I think they are coming behind us. I can hear them, sliding along the ground, in the cold darkness behind us. They look just like they did in the inscriptions. Just like that: giant snakes with human heads, and they look _wrong_ , Rey, so very wrong. Even beyond the obvious. I don’t think I’ll ever forget. You are heavy across my shoulders but I am strong and I will get you out, _I will get you out_ , or I will die trying. I won’t leave you here. I’m so sorry, Rey. I’m so sorry.”

* * *

 

“Ben… Ben, why are you carrying me?”

“Almost… out… almost to the end…”

“Ben, please put me down.”

“Can ... you run?”

“Are you serious?”

“Deadly ... serious. Will …. put you down … but … you run. You RUN. Plane’s just up there ... so close. Can … you run?”

“I can run. Wait… what’s that noise? It sounds like..”

“Sweetheart. I love you. Putting you down… now… RUN!!!”

* * *

 

“Ben, lie down, I’ll fly. Please. Oh, look, the sun is coming up, there it is. We were down there all night. But now the sun is here. Everything will be all right.”

“Not until we’re up, _they’re coming_.”

“Ben, please stop looking behind, you’re making me nervous. I just need to get the plane aligned so we can hit the longest stretch…”

“REY! GO NOW! TAKE OFF NOW! THEY’RE HERE, THEY’RE HEEEEEERE! THERE ARE SOOOOOO MANY OF THEM, SO MANY MORE THAN ON THE WALL. AND THEY ARE WORSE. SOOOOO MUCH WORSE!! NOOOOOOOOO!! WORSE THAN I EVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED! THEY ARE WORSE IN THE SUN. THEY HURT MY EYES, THEY DAMAGE MY SOUL!!!! NOOOOOOOO! GO, GO, GO, GO!”

* * *

 

“Ben! Ben, wake up!”

“What! What!”

“You were screaming in your sleep...again. Was it another nightmare? The Naga?”

“My active imagination. I’m so sorry. No Naga. Naga don’t exist, sweetheart.”

“But we saw…”

“I thought I saw. We’ve talked about this, my love. It was just me, being silly. I’m so sorry I dragged you into that. I’m much happier here with you, working in the museum. Let’s stay in the museum, please?”

“Oh Ben. I’m happy with you wherever we go. The museum is just fine.”

“I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you, Ben.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my sixth submission to Reylo Monster Week. As a challenge I set to myself, I'm writing these all as kind of Lovecrafitan/Weird/Cosmic Horror things, which means:
> 
> *Lots of character death  
> *Lots of unpleasant monsters  
> *First-person narration aka unreliable narrator
> 
> All of my submissions are based on existing stories, and references to these will be in the tags.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, please leave kudos or a comment if you do.
> 
> I'm leofgyth over on tumblr, please come say hi!


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